For students at Brigham Young University, starting a family and seeking creative ways to pay for school aren’t necessarily unique experiences—but they were transformative for BYU Marriott School of Business strategy student Dustin Hubnik. As he prepares to graduate, he reflects on the motivation he has found from deciding to embrace challenges.
Hubnik, from Tomball, Texas, started pressure washing in high school as a way to pay for his mission. After returning home, he figured he could leverage that knowledge to earn money between semesters while he studied at BYU.
Hubnik scaled his power-washing company to commercial properties over the course of a summer. “I was proud of myself that I was able to grow from doing my neighbors’ houses to getting these large contracts,” he says.
With a way to pay for his own education, Hubnik says he wanted to benefit from his schooling as much as he could. “I wanted to do the hardest thing that would test me the most so I could learn the most,” he says. Part of that came down to choosing his major: “I remember hearing so many times from different people that the strategy program is really difficult.” So, Hubnik applied and was accepted.
After starting the program, Hubnik says he found joy in his classes and was inspired by being surrounded by people he thinks of as smart and capable. “I enjoyed the camaraderie of all the students in the program, and yeah—it was really difficult.” And he says he believes the challenges he was seeking helped him grow, too.
“I think strategy really taught me that I’m more capable than I think.” Opportunities like giving presentations under stress, Hubnik says, have helped him feel more confident that he will be able to take on difficult projects in his career.
Hubnik has used that confidence, and his affinity for entrepreneurship, to branch out into other industries. “Ever since we’ve been married, my wife and I have been really interested in real estate and the idea of house hacking,” he says. He plans to use what he has learned as a strategy student to work in real-estate consulting.
New developments in Hubnik’s life have helped him put his career and education in perspective: In February he and his wife welcomed a son into their family. Hubnik says that becoming a father while still in school is challenging—but it also helps him remember that he wants opportunities to grow not just in school, but life.
“This life is meant for us to be tested, and I think having a baby has helped me double down on prioritizing things in my life,” Hubnik says. “His birth reminded me that I want to be an amazing father and a good example to him. While I don’t know what the future looks like, I know that I can constantly strive to be the best person possible.”
